Review: Tonymoly Tomatox Mask

For those of you unfamiliar with Korean cosmetic brands, Tonymoly is one of the many and focuses on using natural and organic ingredients in their products like aloe, tomato, tea tree, lemon etc. Most of their products also come in uber cute packaging like the above. I find their products are relatively inexpensive compared to some other Korean brands. 

I actually got this mask by accident from one of my best friends who went to Korea and asked me if there was anything I wanted. I actually asked her to get me my usual Baviphat Strawberry Toxifying clay mask and she came back with this instead as the packaging looks kinda similar! Since she had already bought it for me I thought why not try it out, it has a different function to my clay mask so I was curious to see how good it was.

Unlike my clay mask, this mask is like cream, it even smells like face cream. It spreads quite thinly and ends up looking like a mask except it doesn't dry like my clay one does. You massage it on and leave it for 5-10 mins (I always go for the maximum) then rinse your face. I like the convenience of this mask as you don't need to leave it on for ~20 mins so it serves as a quick mid-week skin pick-up for me. Of course, it's not as convenient as sheet masks where you can just rip off without having to rinse your face. 

Like with most Korean pot masks, the product comes with a small spoon to prevent contamination if you scoop with your fingers so make sure you use it instead of digging in with your fingers! 

It spreads very smoothly and evenly on my face but I did notice (and I have read that others had the same experience) that it kinda burns on your face for about 2 minutes and then stops. Not sure how worrying this is but I've also found that when using it more often, the burning decreases - I'm giving the product the benefit of the doubt by thinking it's just my skin adjusting to a new product. At least my face hasn't come out all blotchy or swollen so I know it can't be an allergic reaction!

As this mask is quite thin and the recommending masking time is quite short I think this type of mask is more suited for those who like masking often and are looking for a mask that serves it main purpose as brightening up the skin. I probably wouldn't recommend it for anyone with particularly sensitive skin or looking for something that penetrates deep into the skin to clear up acne as this product may be a bit too weak for that. 

I primarily use this in conjunction with my clay one, I feel it works really well - I use this one mid-week to brighten up my skin and then my clay one during the weekends as a detox to get rid of all those toxins built up on an deep into my skin during the week. The main function of this mask is brightening / whitening as it contains pearl powder and Lycopene from the tomato extract so it's perfect for what I want it to do - give my skin a brighten up mid-way through the week! I would highly recommend this mask. 

Review: Baviphat Lemon Whitening Sleeping Pack

Gaaaah. First of all, can I just say sorry for being such a bad blogger. I've just been inactive as I've been settling into my new job, relaxing when I can and general project duties. I'll make another blog post about these soon-ish but I just wanted to do a review on this uh-may-zing product I've been using recently. 

So if you've been reading my blog, I reviewed the Strawberry Toxifying mask from this range back in November and I'm back again to review this Lemon Sleeping Pack as I bought a set of these Baviphat skincare products. This sleeping pack claims to be rich in Vitamin C and lemon extract to suppress melanin production and hyper-pigmentation of the skin. Also contains Arbutin (one of my favourite mask ingredients), which helps whiten the skin and even out skin tone. So in a nut-shell this mask is perfect for anyone with acne scars or uneven/dull skin tones. 

Texture/Appearance

I was a tiny bit surprised by the texture of this mask, it's pretty runny (for a "mask") and is of a creamy colour. The texture feels a bit sticky on application and doesn't feel very thick so it might seem like it's not really adding anything to your face. But for me, that's a good thing as my face gets quite greasy overnight so anything thick would probably clog my pores and make me break out. Overall, the texture is pretty smooth and applies on colourless, just a bit sticky though. 

Fragrance

As the product is named, this sleeping pack has a lemon fragrance. It's pretty strong but in a pleasant way and not in an overpowering way. The scent seems really fresh to me and I quite like it! Smells very natural and has no bad chemical smells to it. It eventually fades off after a while when the pack gets absorbed by the skin which is nice when you're falling asleep. 

Ease of use

Again, this product comes with a tiny spoon for hygiene purposes but unlike the strawberry mask, I feel that this mask is a lot harder to 'scoop' from the pot using the spoon due to its consistency. I've ended up shaking the pot and just scooping the mask off the plastic lid with my finger to be more efficient rather than use the spoon. 

But other than that, the mask is easily absorbed into the skin without much massaging to be done. Also a unique property of this mask is that it doesn't require a rinse when you wake up so it's quite convenient if you're travelling (though, I don't know anyone that doesn't wash their face when they wake up... Just saying.). Just a note for anyone wanting to sleep straight away after applying - you might want to wait 10 minutes before plonking your head down on your pillow as it tends to leave your face feeling sticky for a while until the mask is absorbed into the skin. 

Results

The most important part - does it work? I've only used this product a few times and I must say, it works wonders for spot scars, even more so than the cheap aloe vera gel I reviewed previously. I've actually been applying the mask frequently (despite directions saying once or twice a week) and it definitely fades dark scars the best. Not too sure about the whitening effects though, I feel like my complexion is still the same after use so no comment there. But I feel like the lemon extract and Vitamin C combinations in this mask work very well together, it makes me think of the bleaching effects of lemon juice but maybe not as strong. 

Overall, this mask is great for anyone looking for a convenient, easy to use, natural smelling sleeping pack. I've suddenly become a huge fan of sleeping packs because they aid restoration of your skin whilst you sleep which is brilliant, you wake up to nice skin without having to do much apart from sleep! So I'd definitely recommend this one. It's definitely a lot less work than the Strawberry Toxifying mask (sometimes clay masks are stubborn and take a long time to wash off completely = inconvenience) and can be used anytime during the week as it doesn't really dry your face out if overused either. 

100% recommend, even better if used alongside the Strawberry Toxifying mask during the week. Wouldn't recommend it to be plastered over existing spots though, better to use the toxifying mask or other deep cleansing masks to solve the spot problems before you applying this one. I'd say this mask is more of a acne scar eraser more than a skin maintainer. 

Review: Baviphat Strawberry Toxifying Mask

For those who know me personally, I'm a huge fan of Korean skincare products (hence the Laneige review previously). I went on quite a haul 2 years ago when I visited Seoul and have been stocking up since - paying them extra fees to get them over here from Korea (T__T). I've been using this mask on and off for quite a while now so it's time to give a review on it!  

This is actually my first ever clay mask (minus those ones I played around with when I was little - obviously had no idea what a clay mask even was, probably thought it was play clay lol). Personally, I'm not a huge fan of masks that you have to wash off after a certain period of time - apart from sleeping masks, because I'm a time-saving freak who thinks the quicker and more convenient the better... always. But anyway, enough about me and my opinions on life and onto the review. 

Texture/Appearance

The texture of this mask is well... clay... duh. It's actually a really nice smooth clay that applies very easily onto the skin. It even comes with a tiny spoon for hygiene purposes - I wouldn't advise digging your fingers into the clay because you'll leave stuff behind like dust and skin flakes that you can't see. As usual with the products I've reviewed previously, a little goes a very long way, I always use one heap spoon for my whole face. As far as clay masks go, this one isn't actually very messy to use, just make sure to wash your hands before you pop the lid back on. 

Fragrance

The closest thing I would say the smell of this mask resembles is probably strawberry yoghurt. It's a really nice smell, made me want to eat it the first time I opened and used this mask. It's not overpowering or sickly either. I personally feel that the fragrance of this mask makes the masking experience more enjoyable if anything.

Ease of use

Like I said up there, it's easy to apply and the coverage is generally really smooth (make sure you apply to DRY skin with DRY hands), however, you may have trouble washing this mask off. The first couple of times I used this mask, I could never wash it off 100% first time, it was one of those masks where you really have to scrub at every corner of your face to get it off completely. Make sure you check in the mirror when you're washing because you don't want to walk out with unwashed, dried up clay on some parts of your face! Particular areas of extra attention would be the eye socket area, nostril area and eyebrows. Also, remember not to leave the mask on for longer than the directed time (15-20min I believe) - clay masks can actually do more harm than good for your skin if you leave them on for too long unlike sheet masks.

Results

This mask does a really good job of giving your skin a deep clean where normal facial cleansers probably can't reach. I find it particularly useful when I have signs of a breakout patch on my face, I apply this mask to the affected area and the next day, the spots seem to go away. It's also been helping a lot with my recent outbreak of bad skin (damn hormones...), for acne prone skin, I would recommend this mask be used 2x a week and for normal skin maintenance once a week. I also found that this mask (like a lot of Korean skincare products) provide a whitening effect - it's especially more noticeable for this mask compared to other ones I've used i.e. sheet masks. 

Overall, I really love this mask, it does take a bit of discipline to remember to use it during the week - I always forget when my skin is nice and healthy and only go back to it when my skin is giving me hell. It's great for all skin types, however, I would recommend minimal usage for people with dry skin as it is a deep cleaning mask like most clay ones are - use moisturiser after if you have dry skin. I choose not apply night cream after this mask and let my natural oils seep through to moisturise my face but you can apply a light day cream after using this mask if you feel a little tightness after use. 

Definitely a top mask of choice for me, plus the pot itself is super cute - check out the Baviphat range if you're interested in this mask, they do sleeping masks and moisturisers in fruit shaped pots according to their smell like this one!